Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary : Together with Sellic Spell [B1856]

2014 HCDJ 2nd printing in excellent condition. Edited and published posthumously by his son, Christopher Tolkien. This translation of Beowulf, a cornerstone of Old English literature, by J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) was completed in 1926: he returned to it later but seems never to have considered its publication. This edition is twofold, for the translation is here paired with an illuminating written commentary on the great Anglo-Saxon poem by the translator himself, prepared for a series of lectures given at Oxford in the 1930s. From these lectures there arises a sense of the immediacy and clarity of his vision. It is as if Tolkien entered into the imagined past: standing beside Beowulf and his men shaking out their mail-shirts as they beached their ship on the coast of Denmark, listening to the rising anger of Beowulf at the taunting of Unferth, or looking up in amazement at Grendel's terrible hand set under the roof of Heorot.

These are accompanied by Sellic Spell, a "marvelous tale" written by Tolkien suggesting what might have been the form and style of an Old English folk-tale of Beowulf, in which there was no association with the "historical legends" of the Northern kingdoms.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "I've read many Beowulves, and this might be my favorite. It's a Tolkien-dense prose translation, which rules, but it also has a folklore version he translated called Sellic Spell that I loved very much. The Lay of Beowulf was also cool. And Tolkien apparently sang it to his son as a bedtime story in the 1930s, so that's pretty neat. I'm a big Beowulf guy and this was a treat."; "Tolkien is a master translator. This version of Beowulf is my favorite!"; "What has struck me most is the strange realness of Beowulf. There is something quietly surreal about reading an archaic text and realizing it may reflect the world from which you yourself descended. It feels less like literary study and more like a brief glance through a window into the lives, values and imagination of those who came before me, which is why I have enjoyed Beowulf so much."; "Can't believe I've only just now read it. So awesome and so fun to read the inspiration for almost all modern fantasy. Especially fascinating to be reading Tolkien's translation. Looooooved how he leaned into the archaisms of Old English prose."